A disabled woman's successful appeal against the Government's so-called Bedroom Tax gives 440,000 disabled people in the UK hope of fighting the cruel benefit cut - while the company which owns her house could help up to 600 of their other tenants appeal.

In April, the Government introduced the cut in Housing Benefits for anyone of working age living in social housing who has “spare” bedrooms, part of a raft of changes introduced by the Welfare Reform Act.

The woman, who was unable to share a bedroom with her husband, triumphed in what is thought to be the first successful case of its kind in England.

A tribunal found that the local authority had "not taken into consideration her disabilities and her reasonable requirements".

The tenant, who has chosen to remain anonymous, suffers from various health conditions and this year had a stroke, leaving her in a wheelchair and requiring a stair lift.

Along with her husband, she had argued that due to her condition they required one bedroom each, but this was rejected by Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council who said they were under-occupying their three-bedroom house.

But this decision has been overturned and could pave the way for many other similar challenges.

Iain Sim, chief executive of Coast & Country, which owns the property, said they had been campaigning against the subsidy on behalf of their tenants.

"The Bedroom Tax is abhorrent because it is affecting some of the poorest people in society, who through no fault of their own are living in homes that are classed as too big for them," he said.

"To hear that one couple has taken on the establishment and won is fantastic news, which should give hope to hundreds of thousands of disabled people right across the country."

Up to 600 Coast & Country tenants could now appeal, with full support from the company’s expert team.

Tenants deemed to have one extra bedroom have Housing Benefit cut by 14%. That rises to 25% for people who have two or more spare bedrooms.

"We took on the Government on the spare room subsidy and won," the woman's husband said.

"Getting a satisfactory outcome to our housing benefit tribunal was quite a surprise to us when you take into account what we read in the media and you see what has happened in the High Court recently.

"The tribunal concluded that although we are a couple, my wife's particular circumstances, the extent and effect of her disabling medical conditions and her resulting needs due to her disabilities, mean that we reasonably require one bedroom each and should therefore be assessed for housing benefit on this basis."

A Redcar and Cleveland council spokesman stressed they had followed Government guidelines on the subsidy. The Dept of Work and Pensions, which administers the policy, stressed the tribunal ruling would not set a precedent.

But a spokesperson added: “We will need to look at this particular decision in detail, but in July the courts ruled that the Department had fulfilled its equality duties to disabled people who are affected by the policy.

“We are giving local authorities £190 million extra funding this year so vulnerable claimants get the help they need during the welfare reforms, with £25 million specifically aimed to help disabled people who live in specially adapted accommodation.

“Even after the reform we still pay over 80% of most claimants’ housing benefit, but the taxpayer can no longer pay for spare bedrooms in the social housing sector.”